I have been working on a long range plan for a personal project. It's been three years in the design stage and I think it's about time I MADE time to actually start the hands on work . I think I have secured the needed fabrics and beads for the project with a couple of exceptions that are still in the design works and that I am still collaborating on with a couple of friends.
This project, which is to be a tryptich, was inspired by a tiny Japanese dancer, Mari Osanai, a one of a kind performance artist,trained in classical ballet and modern dance ,who interweaves Noguchi taiso, yoga, tai chi and hip hop into her performances. She has her own unique style of complex movements, twisting her body so easily you'd think her bones were made of jello.
She wrote and performed a solo piece entitled " Sea Watching" and I was so entranced by her that I returned four times to see her at the London Fringe Festival. In fact, her performance was so magical and mesmerizing, I had to take my son, who has an appreciation for dance and a good girlfriend along because Mari defied description and seeing was actually believing!
I confess I did in fact see her perform this piece FIVE times as on the fifth occasion she teamed up with Xiang Bang Fu of the Toronto Chinese Dance Theatre at the Toronto Dance Festival and they turned Sea Watching from a solo performance into a stunning duo performance that kept the audience spell bound. Such is the magic of creativity and the dedicated artists who give their all in the delivery of it.
Once in a while, someone like Mari touches your soul and you carry around the memories of that moment for a very long time. "Sea Watching" has now manifested itself in the guise of a textile piece that excites and stimulates me more than I can put into words. During my design phase, the working title of the piece has been " Earth, Sea, Sky" just to facilitate naming the myriad files I have been accumulating but I think I shall have to come up with a more worthy name in time.
However, I will be starting this project soon and will blog my progress on it so I can spotlight the lampwork artists and fibre artists whose work I have carefully selected and hope to incorporate into this labour of love.
Just this past week, I received a lampwork bead from Jenny Friske-Baer of Divine Spark Designs. Jenny creates amazing beads of the most superb colorings and stylings. I already had the beautiful batik fabric selected for a portion of the earth segment and when I saw Jenny's bead I knew I had to have it. Oh wow, am I a happy camper with this combination! The colors blend beautifully.
It's like camoflauge - can you spot Jenny's spree?
At last hints of spring are in the air and while snow still exists on the north sides of the streets, in the depths of the woods and of course, arena parking lots, there's the promise of more blissful days to come. Tomorrow, I am running away to take a scenic tour of Lake Erie's shore only thirty five miles from home. It's my own kind of personal holiday. Via Aylmer and a wonderful Mennonite thrift store and St. Thomas, where there's a delightful family farm market and a yarn shop crammed floor to ceiling, I'll wend my way towards Port Stanley, a picturesque little fishing village that always lifts my soul. Nothing like a brisk ( read chilly) walk on the beach, collecting the flotsam that nature has deposited there over the winter and then a warm coffee and home made burger at the welcoming Mackie's, a fixture on the beach since 1911. This time of year you don't have to fight for a seat although the pedestrian traffic is steady enough.
